Shades of Violet
by G-Go
Summary: KP/Incredibles. After battling Syndrome, the Incredibles are sent to Middleton for the Summer. Ron and Violet strike up a romance. Meanwhile, someone has vowed vengeance on Mr. Incredible and his family. Middleton High School gets caught in the crossfire.


Preface: This story takes place in the Reuniverse, which does not incorporate Season Four of Kim Possible. It will, by the time I am done writing the final Reuniverse story, but for now (in order to enjoy this as well as the other Reuniverse stories) you will have to accept that the kiss at the Prom took place during Kim and Ron's senior year in high school and the events of Season 4 did not happen.

Also: I would like to get a little interactive with this story. So why don't we play a game? I'll call it "Stump the Author". When I post each chapter, I will ask you, the reader, for something specific to post in your review. For instance, for this chapter, please post the title of your favorite movie in a review. I will work those movie titles into the next chapter as part of the story. In subsequent chapters I will ask for things like "title of favorite song" or "favorite saying" or something similar. Anyone who is able to "Stump the Author" - that is, post something I am unable to work into the following chapter - will get a free gmail invite (and if you don't want one of those, you will at least get recognition for your ability to "Stump the Author", in the author's notes for the subsequent chapter). So anyway, yeah, for now, post the title of your favorite movie in your review, and I will try to work it into the story for the next chapter. This should make for an interesting challenge (No titles for adult films or titles with cuss words in them. Keep it clean, please).

And now...on with the story...

* * *

Chapter 1: Purple

* * *

Most heroes have a weakness. Superman has kryptonite, Green Lantern has yellow energy, Batman can't seem to stay away from easily-taken-hostage sidekicks. Kim Possible had a weakness as well; Ron. Well, specifically, her weakness was whenever Ron got sick, and that was a rarity. No germ had ever invaded the "impenetrable fortress of the Stoppable immunity system" until high school, when Kim caught a cold from her brothers and then passed it along to Ron. Kim's concern for his well-being was so obsessive that she made him come to her house while he was ill so she could take care of him. Then, when a mission came up (to retrieve a machine called "Ray-X" which – ironically – cured the common cold), Kim insisted he stay at her house while she went to rescue her brothers and the top secret cold-killer. Kim didn't like it when Ron got sick. Did not like it at all. She could handle any dangerous situation, deal with any foe, and rescue Ron from any harrowing near-death experience. But when Ron got a cold, Kim's world shut down and he was the only thing she cared about until he got better.

And so it was in the twenty-second year of their marriage, when on a very snowy morning, Ronin came home from a mission with the sniffles, Kim planted him on the couch with chicken soup, a blanket, and called in to her lab to tell them she would not be in for a few days and sent them all home. Kim fussed and fretted over Ron like a mother hen as he developed a cough, and then the chills. She was this close to calling an ambulance when Ron finally put his foot down.

"Dial down the drama, Mrs. Stoppable," he ordered.

"Ron!" she protested, "You never get sick! I seriously think we should take you to the emergency room!"

Ron rolled his eyes, which actually hurt a little. He was definitely coming down with the flu.

"No Ambulances, no ER, no doctors!" Ron barked, "At least, not until whatever I have actually turns into something more than the sniffles a cough and a fever."

"You have a fever, too!" Kim practically screamed.

Ron instantly regretted giving away this particular detail.

"At least let my mom have a look at you!" Kim insisted.

"I don't think a world renowned brain surgeon should be bothered with a flu, Kim." Ron replied.

"I'm a world renowned brain surgeon, and I'm bothering." Kim argued.

"You sure are," Ron muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing! I love you!" Ron cajoled.

"Nice try, Ninja Boy, but that's it. If this gets any worse, I'm having Mom come over to look at you." Kim said a little coldly.

"I don't know how she'll manage to go anywhere in this storm," Ron mused looking out the window.

Neither of them could see anything beyond the front porch outside the massive wall-sized windows that normally looked out over a small lake from their living room. But neither of them could see the lake. They couldn't see past the porch railing, it was snowing that hard. Middleton was experiencing a very rare multi-day blizzard. School was to be let out early that day in anticipation of the storm. There would likely be no school the next day, either.

"It's really bad, isn't it?" Kim was momentarily distracted, "I'm going to call the lab back and tell them all not to come back until this thing blows over."

"Not a bad idea," Ron agreed, "Then maybe you can go outside and clear the front walk with the Cactus Blade."

Kim let out an exasperated grunt, "Really, Ron? It's been almost twenty years. Are you ever going to let it go?"

"Not until we figure out what the deal is with all that," Ron said, a little too defensively. But he knew he'd said too much.

Kim ignored him and went to get her phone.

It irked him, though. Ron had always felt the Lotus Blade had been part of him, part of his persona and identity. He didn't mind that Kim also possessed the Mystical Monkey Power that allowed them to control the nature of the sword with shape-shifting abilities. In fact, he'd always rather liked that fact. It was something they shared in their marriage that made their particular partnership rather unique. Originally, the Lotus Blade had been part of a group of ancient swords that each had their own unique ability. Ron and Kim had taken part in an adventure through time that involved the Ohana Blades, as they were called. All but the Lotus Blade had been destroyed. However, on a subsequent mission involving Professor Dementor, Kim had transformed the Lotus Blade into the Cactus Blade, a sword with immense kinetic power capable of causing small, localized earthquakes. She could not turn the Lotus into any of the other Ohana Blades because those had not been single swords; the Orchid and Magnolia Blades had each been part of a set of two swords that worked with each other. The Lotus could not split into two pieces.

Kim had only been able to perform that feat one time. Try as she might, she was never able to repeat the transformation (It would not be until years later when Ron would remember he had done the same thing himself in ancient Japan, and they would come to the conclusion that the Lotus' ability to transform into the Cactus Blade was a one-time occurrence for anyone who possessed the mystical monkey power).

Just as Kim was hanging up the phone, the front door flew open and two teenagers came bounding in amidst a flurry of snow and wind.

"Shut the door!" Kim yelled as she dashed over and actually closed it herself, "Your Dad is sick!"

"Whose dad," the snow-covered young man asked, "Hers or mine?"

"Yours," Kim said, rolling her eyes, "I don't want either of you bothering him while he's under the weather."

Timothy James Stoppable took off his knit cap and cast a glance at his companion, who was unwrapping her scarf from around her face.

"You two go upstairs and take off your wet things. Then come help me figure out what to do about dinner. I don't want your Dad cooking in his condition."

"I can cook dinner!" Kimono volunteered, "Pop's been teaching me a few things around the kitchen!"

"We'll talk about it," Kim said, dismissively waving them away, "And make sure you put your wet clothes into the dryer!"

The teenagers upstairs while Kim put a kettle of water on the stove. She could hear them muttering to each other as they went up.

"I've never seen your mom like this. Why is she being so weird?" Kimono whispered.

"I don't know," TJ answered, "I've never seen her like this either. For that matter, I've never seen Dad get sick."

Kim came fussing into the living room with steaming hot tea and a bowl of microwaved chicken soup.

"We're going to need a new microwave," she told her husband sheepishly.

Ron face-palmed his own sweaty forehead, "You left the spoon in the bowl again?"

"I'm sorry, Ron! I've never been able to make more than a bowl of cereal, you know that!"

"How is this different?" He inquired, "You put the soup in the bowl. You add water. Microwave for three minutes while making sure the spoon or any other metal doesn't get nuked with the soup! Wait…is THIS the soup?"

"Well yeah," Kim admitted, "It still got hot."

"It's got nuked bits of spoon in it!" Ron scolded "I thought we were trying to prevent my death! You know, changing the timeline and all that? I mean, if you're just going to kill me now, you might as well have Veronica come home from Yamanuchi!"

"OK, Ron." Kim glared at him, taking the bowl of soup off the tray, "You don't have to make a production number out of it."

"I don't get it, KP," Ron still called her that from time to time, "Years ago you watched Kintaro cook fish over an open flame out in the woods. And against all reason, with the help of the magnolia blades, you actually managed to cook us all the same meal without killing us. What happened?"

"Are you trying to get me to leave you alone? Because you could just say that, you know."

"No, Kim, I'm trying to get you not to inadvertently kill me with cooking skills that would make an Iron Chef commit ritual suicide from the shame of just standing near you in a kitchen!" Ron hissed.

Kim clammed up and abruptly went back into the kitchen (from which a thin acrid smoke was wafting) dropping the bowl into the sink a little more harshly than she meant to. OK, so Ron was a little mean with his comments, but he had a point. She had killed yet another microwave in an attempt to engage in the most rudimentary cooking endeavor possible: heating liquid in a machine. Kim shook her head. The previous summer, Ron had begun teaching Kimono how to cook, and she demonstrated real talent for the craft. Kim naturally became jealous, both of Kimono's cooking ability and the fact that Ron was heaping praise on someone who wasn't technically a part of their family. Silently, Kim rebuked herself for even letting the thought cross her mind. Of course Kimono was part of the family. She wasn't just Shego's daughter, living with the Stoppables at the Drakken's insistence she have as normal a teenage life as possible (normal for someone with blue-green skin anyway), she would one day be Kim and Ron's daughter-in-law. Where once Kim had found it exciting to know the details of their children's future, it had now become a burden. Kim had to stay quiet about future events in order not to upset them. They had already tampered with the timeline by sending Veronica off to Yamanuchi, after she graduated high school, for training under Yori and Kintaro's tutelage. And Kim had decided when the day came Ron was supposed to die at the hands of Ray Beam, she was going to prevent it. She had, in fact, already solicited Shego's help for that particular bit of timeline meddling. It was difficult to keep her mouth shut at times when she knew her children would benefit from what she and Ron already knew about their future.

"I can make him some soup," came a voice from behind, interrupting her thoughts, "That is, if it's OK with you."

Kim turned and gazed at Kimono. Hers was an innocent face, genuinely wanting to help and be part of the group she considered her second family. Sometimes Kim couldn't believe the teenager standing before her would one day grow into the strong, confident woman who would marry her son.

"Of course it's OK," Kim moved toward the girl and embraced her. "I'm sorry, Kimono. I just can't seem to make anything work in the kitchen, and you're such a natural at it. I guess I get a little jealous sometimes."

"Good." Kimono said simply as she moved toward the stove and took out a sauce pan.

"Excuse me?" Kim was confused.

"Look," Kimono turned toward her, voice wavering, eyes unsteady, "I get jealous of you all the time."

"Me? Why?"

"Because your life is so perfect!" the teenager complained, "You have a great house, with the world's greatest guy who loves you and would do anything for you. You're a world renowned cyber-brain technician whose inventions have saved thousands of lives. And all this after you were a world famous teen hero. Frankly, I'm glad to know there's at least one thing you're jealous of me about, because I can't possibly think of anything else worth envying."

"That's not true," Kim said quietly, "You're a great person who-"

"Please don't patronize me", Kimono cut her off. Her lower lip began to tremble, "I've heard the 'you're a great person with her own unique talents' speech before. It's just something grown-ups tell you to shut you up."

"No," Kim corrected, "It's something we say to make you feel good about yourself when you clearly are not."

Kimono let out a heavy sigh, "I just wish I was part of this family. Mother and Daddy fight all the time. I mean, they tell me they love me and each other but they just fight so much. I almost think they like it."

"Maybe they do," Kim said with a smile "Your parents have a very unique relationship."

"No," Kimono said emphatically, "There's nothing unique about fighting and arguing all the time. They used to start arguments and then, when they realized I could hear them, they would go to their room and fight some more. Sometimes they wouldn't come out until morning, looking very tired, and I KNEW they had been fighting all night!"

Kim pursed her lips, hoping the smile that was trying to work its way onto her face would decide to stay away. She was just barely managing to keep her composure.

"And now that I'm not living with them," Kimono continued, oblivious, "They probably just fight right there in the main part of the lair!"

"Yes", Kim said in a wavering voice, "They probably do. Right there in the middle of the lair. Um, KD, did you ever listen to your parents fight after they realized you could hear? Did you ever sneak up to their door and listen to the rest of their argument?"

"Once", Kimono confirmed, "But I didn't go all the way up to the door. I was afraid if I heard them fighting I might not be able to keep from crying, and they would hear me and get angry. I never like when Mother yells at me. Her hands always flare up."

"OK," Kim said slowly, "So that one time when you snuck up near their door, did you hear them fighting?"

"Well, mostly I could hear Mother yelling. I could barely hear Daddy at all."

"And how could you tell they were still fighting?" Kim asked innocently.

"Are you kidding? Mother was yelling at him! And she was yelling his real name! Not his villain name. And Daddy was breathing very hard. I think he was crying!"

"Tell me exactly what your mother said."

"Like I told you, she was yelling at him. Yelling his name! She would yell 'Oh, Drew!' and I think Daddy was telling her 'no' because she was yelling 'Yes! Yes, Drew! Oh, Yes!' really loud. Then after a while, Daddy got frustrated and just yelled. No words, he just yelled really loud. And I think Mother knew the fight was probably over because she stopped yelling right then. That's when I snuck back to my room because at least they were done fighting."

"Oh, they were done all right." Kim said with a smirk. "Kimono, I don't think your parents were fighting whenever they went to their room. Ron and I saw them fight all the time and they never went somewhere else to 'finish fighting'. They never seemed to have any problem arguing right there for the whole word to see and hear."

"I don't understand," Kimono was confused, "If they argued in front of you, then why didn't they argue in front of me?"

"Because they weren't arguing."

"Then what…?"

Kimono had lived a very sheltered existence to that point. Life in the lair of a former supervillain was practically like living as a hermit. It was one of the reasons Shego wanted her daughter to live with Kim and Ron while she went to High School. Shego loved her daughter very much. But she was not an experienced mom, and truth be told, Shego didn't particularly have the 'motherly instincts' you may have heard about. As a result, Shego had never had "The Talk" with Kimono. Frankly, she was embarrassed by the very idea of discussing such a subject with her own daughter and was hoping Kim would handle that department. After all, Kim Stoppable was a doctor. Such a topic of conversation would be simple for her. But for Shego, the idea of discussing her love life with Dr. Drakken as well as Kimono's own sexuality just made her shudder.

At that very moment, Kimono grew up a little.

"No!" she was horrified, "You mean every time they go to their bedroom, they're actually-?"

"Yep," Kim nodded emphatically.

"Every time?"

"Probably. I'd guess that fighting turns one or both of them on. Fighting with each other, I mean." Kim speculated.

"But they fight a _lot_!"

"And now you know why."

"Ew!" Kimono gasped in horror, "Ew…just ew…EEEWWWWW!"

"What's wrong?" TJ came bounding into the kitchen when he heard Kimono's shriek.

"My parents!" Kimono turned to him, still horrified. "You remember when I told you they fight all the time?"

"Yeah."

"And they would go to their room and finish fighting because I thought they didn't want to fight in front of me?"

"Uh huh." TJ was momentarily bewildered.

"Well, it turns out they… they were… I can't even say it out loud!" Kimono whispered the details in his ear.

"Ew! Really?" TJ was now also horrified, "Your parents do that?"

"Your parents do that too, TJ." Kim spoke up.

"What? NO! You do not!" TJ protested.

"Night before last, in fact." Kim told her son plainly, "Didn't you hear the hot tub fire up after you went to bed?"

"That was… you were… IN THE HOT TUB!" TJ practically squealed.

"What's going on in there?" Ron's voice drifted in from the living room.

TJ poked his head through the kitchen entry way, "The hot tub, Dad? Really?"

"What?" Ron was confused for a second then put two and two together, "I guess your mom told you about that, huh? We actually haven't done it out there in a while, but the other night your mother was feeling-"

"NO!" TJ ordered, "Do NOT finish that sentence! And DO NOT go into any detail. I just….ew! I am never getting into the hot tub again!"

"Fine by me," Ron answered evenly, "Keep your teenage cooties out of my Love Tub."

"Will you please STOP? Why must I know this about my parents?"

Kim smiled to herself. The conversation was reminiscent of one they had all had more than a thousand years ago, when her kids were older. Just then her phone rang. She answered it, spoke several words, then hung up and walked out into the living room.

"That was Wade," Kim said, picking up the remote, "He said turn on Channel Four."

Kim punched a button and the TV came to life. Flipping to channel four, they arrived in the middle of a breaking news story.

"…authorities seem to be handling everything at this point. All that's left is the clean-up phase, but it's still a miracle no one was hurt. Erin?"

The picture switched from what looked like a massive pile of rubble to a female news anchor who turned to look at the camera, "In case you're just joining us, the roof at the Middleton Convention Center collapsed during the Annual Winter Home and Garden Show this morning. Authorities believe the roof caved in under the weight of the accumulated snow. But what has most people talking is, despite the fact that the floor of the convention center was crowded, no one was hurt. Those who were in the convention hall at the time say some sort of enormous, blue force field suddenly appeared above their heads and deflected away the falling debris."

Ron and Kim shared a look.

The news anchor stopped talking and appeared to be listening to an ear piece, then she looked back up at the camera, "We are just now receiving video of the incident in question. This is footage taken by one of the convention attendees…"

The video showed a kitchen with all the latest appliances and gadgets. As the camera moved around, it became obvious that the "kitchen" was a mock-up set made to look like a real kitchen in someone's home. The purpose was to showcase the latest products. The person holding the camera seemed to be talking with his wife about getting a new refrigerator and possibly new counter tops. Then a low rumble could be heard, followed by several loud cracks. The camera wavered frantically and then pointed up in time to see the roof of the convention lurching downward as it first bulged and then broke apart. Screams could be heard above the roar as overhead; a massive blue yet transparent dome of energy suddenly appeared and deflected all the wreckage toward the walls of the convention center.

Suddenly the TV blinked and then shut off. The lights in the living room went out and the appliances in the kitchen fell silent. The power was out.

Ron and Kim looked at each other again.

"You think it was Violet?" Kim asked her husband.

"I don't see how it could be anyone else." Ron replied, staring at the blank TV while thinking. "If it is her, then why is she in town?"

"And why did she knock out the power?" Kim put in.

Ron looked up at the lights, "You think she did this, too?"

"If she didn't want GJ finding out she was in town, it would make sense for her to kill the news feeds."

Ron nodded.

"Who's 'Violet'?" TJ asked.

"Invisigirl", Ron responded, watching the expression on his son's face dissolve into one of complete awe.

"Invisigirl? THE Invisigirl?"

"How many others have you heard of?" Ron asked his son evenly.

"You talk like you know her," Kimono observed.

"I do," Ron said evenly, "Or at least I did. I haven't spoken to her since I was in high school. Though we have had a few dealings with each other. I've bumped into her on a couple of missions, and I'm pretty sure she was there on a couple more, but I was never able to prove it."

"I can't believe it," TJ was completely astonished, "You know Invisigirl! The superhero who caught DNAmy by herself? The same Invisigirl who captured Harley Quinn and sent her to the asylum? The superhero who brought down The Kingpin? The Invisigirl who conquered the army of Syndroids?"

"Actually," Kim spoke up, "We helped her with the Syndroid thing."

"Seriously? How come you never told us?" TJ demanded.

"Because it never officially happened," came a strange female voice out of thin air.

Kimono and TJ both yelped. Ron leaped to his feet and wobbled a bit from dizziness. Kim instinctively went into a combat-ready crouch, putting herself between the teenagers and the source of the voice.

"I'm not here to hurt you," the voice said again, "I'm here to help."

In the very center of the living room, a figure materialized; faded into view like a photograph fades, though in rapidly reverse fashion. She was gorgeous; tall, with straight, raven-black hair tinged with a few gray strands, jet black eyes (surrounded by a black eye-mask), and an easy smile. She wore a red single piece suit accentuated by a yellow belt, black thigh-high boots and a yellow "i" logo in the center of the chest.

"Hello, Kim. Hello, Ron." She said easily, lowering herself into a nearby chair.

"Make yourself at home, Violet." Kim said sarcastically as she straightened up and walked over to sit by her husband. Ron had slumped back onto the couch from exhaustion. "Do I need to even ask how you got in here, past our security system?"

"Attic window," Invisigirl said lightly, "Power is out."

"You did this?" Ron gestured at the lights.

Violet nodded, "I came to see you, and I don't want anyone knowing I'm here."

"I know you're here," Ron said seriously, "And I am under strict orders to report your whereabouts."

Violet nodded, "I figured that's why you've been avoiding me all these years. You won't turn me in though, will you?"

"What part of 'strict orders' do you not understand?" Ron demanded.

"You're the Director of Global Justice!" Violet countered, "You can order yourself not to report me!"

"That order doesn't come from me," Ron seethed, angry that his house had been broken into and his family frightened, "It comes directly from the President!"

"Only because his National Security Adviser is Will Du." Violet said pointedly, "and he doesn't much care for us 'rogue supers'."

Ron sighed and said nothing.

"I knew you didn't agree with him," Violet looked from Ron to Kim, "He's a bureaucrat. You're not."

"How do you know?" Ron asked, annoyed.

"Because you're the only Director in Global Justice history who still takes missions and does field work." Violet said quietly, "All your predecessors planted themselves behind the desk as soon as they took that post."

"Why are you here?" Kim demanded.

"One of the Syndroids got loose," Violet said, then raised her hands in protest, "No, I don't know how. I was told the computer simply released it from stasis. I think someone or some_thing _hacked into our system and released it. He had security clearances all the way out of the facility and was gone before we could catch it."

"Which is why you should have let GJ handle their incarceration!" Ron practically shouted.

"Ron," Violet said quietly, "I would have been happy to, but you repeatedly ignored my requests to speak to you."

Ron had no answer to this.

"This is true?" Kim inquired evenly.

"I didn't want to report her!" Ron protested, "If I talked to her, then I would know where she was, and I would have to follow my orders and arrest her."

"Always too noble for your own good, Ron Stoppable," Violet said with a smile.

"You have no idea," Kim said, rolling her eyes.

"This unit," Violet continued, "Was one of the sentient ones. Before we put it in stasis, it vowed revenge on you and your family."

"Fantastic," Ron muttered, "Put another bad guy on the long list of those who have sworn vengeance against me. Or in this case, a bad robot."

"What's a Syndroid?" TJ finally couldn't contain his curiosity.

"A long time ago, back before you were born," Ron turned to his son, "A fairly brilliant scientist named Buddy began constructing robots. He made them as smart as he could until one day one of them became too smart."

"The smart one led the others in a revolt. They captured the scientist and forced him to build more robots, and even smarter ones," Violet chipped in.

"Didn't Buddy know your dad at one point?" Kim asked Violet.

"When he was a young boy," Violet confirmed, "He wanted to be my dad's sidekick. Dad turned him down. He was upset, but then he set out to prove himself with his technological prowess. He wanted to build robots that would help people; do manual labor and perform jobs in order to allow mankind to move to the next stage in its intellectual advancement."

"How is your dad, anyway?" Ron couldn't help himself.

"Good," Violet said with a nod and a smile, "Still pretty strong for a guy in his late sixties. He and Mom are enjoying their retirement in Florida."

Kim nodded, "Lots of people do. So are you expecting the Syndroid to come here?"

"Yes, but I wanted to be here first. So I put a rumor out on the internet that Ronin would be making an appearance at the Home and Garden show, The Syndroid caused the roof to collapse in the hope you would be caught in the cave-in. You have a lot of fans by the way, that convention floor was packed."

"So you're responsible for the roof collapse!" Ron accused.

"Ron," Kim said with a patient voice tinged with annoyance, "Of course she isn't. Just because she started a rumor doesn't mean she's responsible for how people react to that information, or what they do with it."

"Thank you, Kim!" Invisigirl said graciously.

Kim nodded, "You came here to protect us. Still wish you'd knocked on the front door though."

"I understand," Violet said sympathetically, "But I couldn't risk being seen. We want the Syndroid to think you are the only ones here."

"'We'?" Ron inquired.

"My husband is in town, keeping an eye out for the droid." Violet informed them, "He wounded it at the Convention Center but it eluded him in the storm. It probably went somewhere to repair itself and will show up here at the house soon after."

"So, um…how is Hego?" Kim asked haltingly.

"Great!" Violet gushed, "He's been-"

"Wait!" Kimono, "You're married to Hego? Oh my gosh, you're my aunt! Invisigirl is my aunt!"

Kim and Ron exchanged a look. It was probably best not to openly discuss the potential reasons why Violet ended up marrying an older man who possessed super strength. Or maybe those reasons were just obvious enough not to need discussion.

"Wow! So Shego _did_ have a daughter!" Violet got up from the chair and moved toward the teal-skinned teenaged girl, "I _thought_ you looked like your mother! That's so awesome!"

Kimono got up and hugged Violet fervently, excited to discover she had such a prominent person as part of her family.

TJ felt the same way, "Wish I had a hero in my family."

"HEY!" Kim and Ron both yelled at the same time.

"Oh! Right. Sorry." TJ said sheepishly.

For a moment, Kimono gushed about living with the Stoppables, about going to high school and her life in general. Then she came to the reasons Shego wanted her to live in Middleton.

"Mother felt I could learn a lot from Kim," the teenager girl concluded.

"And Ron", Violet said, smiling again, "You know, I learned more than a few things from him when he was my boyfriend."

"WHAT"? TJ and Kimono yelled simultaneously.

"'Boyfriend'?" Kimono looked from Ron to Kim who nodded and smiled a little.

"Ron," Violet pretended to pout, "You didn't tell them about us? I'm hurt!"

"Yeah, Dad," TJ quipped, "How come you never told us about this?"

"Yeah Ron," Kim couldn't help herself, "How come?"

Ron blinked several times, "Excuse me, please. Sick hero here, waiting to be attacked by yet another enemy who's sworn vengeance against him. Not to mention there's a rogue superhero sitting in our living room who is wanted by Global Justice."

"Yeah," Kimono quipped, "A superhero who used to be your girlfriend! Was this before you met Kim?"

"No," Kim said lightly, "It was the summer between sophomore and junior year in high school. I was dating Josh Mankey at the time."

"Mankey!" Ron grunted, looking off into the distance, "I still hate that name!"

"Glad it only takes you several decades to get over anything," Kim muttered.

"Um. Story time, please!" Kimono gushed, "I would really like to hear how two superheroes dated each other when they were my age!"

"Oh no, your Dad's not a superhero," Violet said playfully, "No powers. That makes him just a hero."

"I have the power of imagination," Ron said defiantly.

"We all do!" TJ enthused, "Which means it's not that special! Did you guys ever kiss?"

"Whoa!" Ron barked while Kim and Violet both giggled, "Who was just complaining less than twenty minutes ago about knowing too much about his Dad's love life?"

"This is different!" TJ informed him.

"How?"

"It's not gross."

"Thanks, Teej," Kim piped up, "I love you too."

"Sorry, Mom, I just…well…you know what I mean. It would be like you learning your parents used to-"

"They still do!" Kim said with a huge grin.

"WHAT? NO! Gramma and Grampa? Seriously? EEWW! No…why would you tell me…is it too much to ask that you guys keep one or two secrets from us?"

"Like who my first girlfriend was?" Ron challenged.

"No," TJ corrected him, "See, you're keeping all the WRONG secrets while telling me things I really don't want to hear."

"You're never going to get a girlfriend with that attitude, son." Ron scolded.

"Meh." TJ said dismissively, "None of the girls at school are worth dating anyway."

For the briefest second, a look of hurt and disappointment flashed across Kimono's face. Ron and Kim both noticed it and looked at each other.

"I believe someone has requested a story," Violet announced, sensing the slight discomfort in the room, "And since all we're doing is waiting for the Syndroid to show up…"

Ron sighed, "OK. I suppose it started when Violet's family came to Middleton."

"Actually," Violet interjected, "It started before that. Back when the supers were all in hiding. The very first Syndroid looked exactly like the scientist who built him. The droid called itself 'Syndrome', and was trying to set itself up as some sort of fake superhero. My family and I had just finished battling one of Syndrome's Omnidroids…"

* * *

The falling debris of Syndrome's plane enveloped them completely, then plumed upward in a massive orange mushroom shape as the remaining jet fuel ignited and exploded. Their house was destroyed, while the surrounding houses were damaged, but only minimally. As the flames cleared, the bluish haze of Violet's force field began to become distinguishable amidst the smoke and fire. The smoke billowed back and away to reveal a family, huddled together for safety and protection. One of Violet's hands was extended upward in order to project an impenetrable barrier around them. She opened one eye and looked around. Then the rest of the family did the same. Incredulous and relieved, they all began tentatively looking at each other, glad to be alive and safe.

"That's my girl," Helen said, looking at her daughter with a proud grin.

Violet returned her mother's gaze with a smile of her own.

"Does this mean we have to move again?" Dash looked at his father who hugged him and chuckled. Bob then sensed a presence, something he noticed out of the corner of his eye.

A slack-jawed young boy in a baseball cap, sitting on a tricycle, stared at them for a second, and then shouted, "That was totally wicked!"

Bob looked at his wife and shrugged, but Helen had a quizzical look on her face.

"How did that kid survive the explosion?" she queried.

The limo with government agent Rick Dicker riding in back pulled around the corner and drove up the street toward them. The driver, seeing Syndrome's aircraft hovering above, had made a hasty exit knowing things were about to go bad.

"I guess you can't stay here," Agent Dicker said as he opened the rear door of the limo and motioned them over.

Bob and Helen looked at the shattered remains of their home and sighed almost simultaneously.

"I really liked it here," Helen said forlornly, before turning and getting into the car with her family.

The agent looked at her and the rest of the Parrs, "We might be able to fix it so you can stay."

Violet looked at him hopefully, then at her parents.

"You'll have to go away for the summer while we get this all straightened out," Agent Dicker informed them, "But we should be able to get you re-situated here once the dust settles."

"But there's still a month of school left!" Dash exclaimed.

"Sorry, kid. There's nothing I can do about that." Dicker said sympathetically, "You will have to disappear for a while, at least from this town. But we should have things cleaned up and have you folks back here before school begins in the fall. I'm sorry, but it's the best I can do."

"Where will we go?" Bob asked earnestly.

"We sometimes conduct joint operations with Global Justice," the agent explained, "Their headquarters are in Middleton. We can put you in a safe house there for the summer until we get things straightened out here."

"I suppose Violet can finish ninth grade there as well as here." Helen said almost to herself.

"That will be weird," Violet observed, "A lot of schools have ninth grade as part of high school. I wasn't expecting to go to high school until next year."

"Don't worry, Vy!" Dash mocked helpfully, "I'm sure Tony Rattinger will be waiting for you when we get back!"

Violet shot her little brother a glare.

"I suppose a summer break would be good for us," Bob said after thinking a bit, "We're going to want to figure out what the deal is with Jack-Jack's powers."

Helen nodded, " The kids can finish the last month of school and it'll be like a long vacation for them."

"Wait," Dash was confused, "I thought we just took a vacation."

Bob chuckled, "Son, you're going to realize what we just did was much more like work than a vacation."

"Then it's settled," Agent Dicker declared, "We'll get you into a hotel tonight. Tomorrow you can come back here and salvage what remains of your personal things, and hopefully we can have you settled in Middleton by the weekend."

"Terrific", Helen sighed, "Moving again."

"Well," Bob chirped up, "At least this should be an interesting summer vacation."

* * *

The rumors had to be true, he thought to himself. This wasn't vague information, it was a 'yes' or 'no' kind of thing. Either it was true or it wasn't, and it had to be true. He looked again at the information displayed on his computer screen. It was a headline on a blog:

'SUPERS TO COME OUT OF HIDING?'

The body of the article gave some vague details about a battle between someone calling himself 'Sydnrome' versus Mr. Incredible, his wife, and possibly their kids. The article asserted that Mr. Incredible's wife was none other than Elastigirl, but he dismissed that bit of information out of hand.

Elastigirl, Helen, belonged to him. And no other.

His name was Owen Juan. He had been a superhero at one point. His power was the ability to make very quick decisions in the blink of an eye under extreme pressure situations. His superhero career was brief, but legendary. He'd brought down several potential criminals; one or two of whom eventually might have been dangerous at some point in the future. Some people claimed he didn't actually have a superpower; that his entire modus operandi was based on bad decisions made on erroneous assumptions. Owen didn't care. He knew better. He could see things no one else could. He could make the quick decisions no one else was capable of, and once his decision was made, nothing could change that. He was judge, jury, and executioner all in one completely justified package.

He was: The Umpire.

His battlecry: "You're out, crime!"

His uniform: dark blue, and heavily padded. Also, a mask with a heavy wire mesh front so as to conceal his secret identity.

And his career: as was previously mentioned: brief but legendary.

OK, so he'd made a few bad calls. Who didn't? How was he supposed to know that jaywalker was the son of the mayor hurrying home to get his pregnant wife to the hospital? Or that driver who ran the red light was a volunteer fireman on his way to the fire station? Despite the fact her husband was in jail for the night, the mayor's daughter-in-law still had her baby. The fire still got put out even though the precinct captain was being booked on a traffic violation at the time. Everything worked out. And the important thing was, the Umpire was – in a majority of cases – doing good. Fighting crime. Catching criminals while they were still committing small crimes before they had a chance to move up to serious evil.

Commit a crime, no matter how small, and you're out. Hit the showers. You know, the ones down at the county jail.

But the world just wasn't ready for the awesome crime-fighting power of The Umpire.

He had made another bad call. Nothing serious, just arresting a young woman because her taillight was out. She was the president's daughter. And the car was being driven by Secret Service. Didn't matter. In the judgment of The Umpire, this was a big first step toward a life of crime. She had to be set straight, despite the fact the Secret Service Agent kept yelling "are you blind?" So he arrested her.

But later, Mr. Incredible showed up at his door, and brought him before a Federal arbitration panel which declared The Umpire did not have a superpower, and was prohibited from practicing the art of fighting crime ever again. In his defense, Elastigirl had stood up in court, naming several heroes who did not have superpowers (Batman, The Punisher, Rorschach), yet were still effective crime fighters. She even looked at him once or twice and smiled sympathetically.

Owen knew at once she was in love with him. He also knew she had to keep her love a secret in order to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.

But soon after the trial was over, all superheroes were declared illegal, and went into hiding. Try as he might, he was unable to locate Elastigirl, and had been searching for her these last fifteen years. Some heroes had gone on practicing their craft. But Elastigirl had seemingly dropped off the face of the earth.

Now it appeared they were emerging again. At the very least, Mr. Incredible had gone back to work. This could not be allowed to happen. Incredible was not a hero in Owen's judgment. He was a criminal waiting for the right moment to emerge and take over the world. The Umpire was the only one who could see this, thus it was up to The Umpire to bring down Mr. Incredble.

This was not vengeance. It was preemptive justice.

Owen Juan got up from his desk and went to the closet, opening it to reveal a piece of machinery covered by a tarp. He pulled back the tarp to reveal a weapon.

He called it The Humanizer. It was a ray type weapon capable of removing mutant powers from a superhero. He didn't want to hurt Mr. Incredible, or his family of inevitable criminals, he just wanted to take away their powers so they could not hurt themselves or anyone else.

Once their powers were gone, the world would see. Helen would see. The Umpire was right.

The Umpire was always right.

He went back to his computer and read the article again. Rumors and conjecture abounded, but there was one tidbit that stood out to him. A location.

Middleton.


End file.
